Space Photonics Facilities

Our facilities contain a 1700 ft2 floor space that includes a Class 1000 clean room, fiber optics assembly and test lab, an electronics assembly and test lab, five offices, a reception area, and a multi-use conference area. SPI is currently leasing this space in the University of Arkansas Genesis Technology Incubator.

Our fiber optics lab provides the capability for prototype fabrication and test of optical components up to speeds of 40 Gbps, as well as a comprehensive suite of optical test equipment. We have two multichannel 2.5 Gbps BERTs, four 2.5 Gbps NIC test cards with 1550 nm CW lasers and external modulators, and two 10 Gbps NIC test cards with 1550 nm CW lasers and 10 Gbps external modulators. The following pictures show some of this test equipment.

Two 2.5 Gbps Bit-Error Rate Testers. A T-Berd Communications Analyzer (upper left) and a Gnubi BERT Test System (upper right).

10 Gbps transmitters and receivers (lower left). High speed test bed and inspection station (lower right).

In addition to our facilities, we also have access to the University of Arkansas’ facilities and personnel. The High Density Electronics Center (HiDEC) has facilities that include 6500 ft2 of class 100 and class 1000 cleanrooms providing the capability to fabricate and test MCM-D and MCM-L. Additionally, the new MBE facility available in the Physics department is an outstanding new addition to the University’s highly successful laser and optoelectronics R&D capabilities; this is planned for use on future advanced development efforts at SPI. The Physics Department also provides access to an array of high-speed electro-optical test equipment.